WEBVTT - Tech Glossary: From A to DLC 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.200 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.400 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:22.000 and I love all things tech. And you know, one 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:25.159 thing I haven't really covered in this show is just 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:30.040 a rundown on common acronyms and initialisms in the world 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:35.000 of tech and what those things actually mean. Sometimes you 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.720 run into these things and they can throw you for 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.640 a loop. So today and in the next few episodes, 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:45.360 we're doing a sort of glossary of tech related terms 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:49.520 you might encounter and what those actually mean. Not really terms, 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:53.040 but again those initialisms and acronyms. I will spend a 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.280 little bit of time on each of these because there's 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:57.680 a lot to get through, so expect to hear a 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:01.000 bit of context, not just a deaf ffinition. Do you 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.800 want a definition? You could pull up lists of acronyms 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.000 and initialisms and just see that. Now, before I jump 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.760 into this, I do want to mention that this is 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:13.320 by no means an exhaustive list of acronyms in tech. 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:18.479 If I did that, it would pretty much completely take 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:22.080 over this podcast for the next like four weeks. Instead, 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.920 I've selected a bunch of acronyms and initialisms that I 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.480 think are important to know, but I'm leaving out a 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.199 ton of them, and I wouldn't blame anyone for saying 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:36.200 I was being a bit arbitrary with my approach to selection. 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:42.319 It turns out the tech world absolutely loves acronyms and initialisms, 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.640 and some of them take longer to say than the 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:48.360 full names, because I mean, why not. Also, just for 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:52.040 the purposes of organization, I'm going to go alphabetically through 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.360 the list here because I needed to organize this in 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.680 some way and that seemed to make the most sense 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.200 to me. In addition, with some of these, I have 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:05.640 actually grouped related terms together. For example, if I just 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:11.440 go strictly alphabetically, I would hit d RAM before RAM, 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.919 which means things we get a little weird. So instead, 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:17.480 d RAM is going to be part of a larger 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.720 treatment on RAM in general. So if you feel like 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.239 I've skipped over something, and I definitely have skipped over 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:28.360 some things, just wait for all of these episodes to 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.640 come out, just in case that thing shows up in 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:35.200 a group entry, and maybe by that time you will 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.240 have forgotten all about it, and I won't have to 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:41.600 get angry messages. So let's get to it. And our 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.240 first one isn't actually starting with a letter at all. 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.480 It starts with the numeral two, so it's two f A. 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:54.000 This one means to factor authentication, which I'm guessing most 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.480 of you out there have encountered at some point. This 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:01.600 is a means of authenticating a user, you know, saying yes, 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.799 this user is who they claim to be, and they 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:09.919 do it through well two factors. Those factors should belong 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:14.800 to two different categories of things. There are three categories total. 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:18.240 There's knowledge, so that would be stuff like a password. 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:23.200 It's something that the user knows. There's stuff what is 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:27.280 you by that I mean like biometrics like a retinal 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:31.280 scan or a fingerprint scan or you know, a vocal 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:34.880 scan that kind of thing. And then there's stuff what 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:39.280 you own, like your cell phone or a physical token 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:44.120 or something like that. So with two factor authentication, you 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.640 have to provide two out of the three categories in 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.760 order to get access to whatever system it is you're 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:53.680 trying to access. This could be a building, it could 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:57.440 be a computer, it could be a specific piece of software. 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.040 A pretty common version of this is a password and 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.440 a one time use access code that the system then 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.920 sends to your registered smartphone. So the idea here, of course, 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.040 is that if someone were to get hold of your password, 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.320 like let's say you wrote it on a post it 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:20.800 note or something I've seen it happen, well, that person 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.440 would still need to have your phone in order to 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:27.680 access that account once they were prompted by the system. So, 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:33.159 when implemented properly, two factor authentication is a big boost insecurity. 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.760 On a related note, you also have m f A, 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:41.880 which stands for multi factor authentication that includes to F 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:46.120 A but could extend beyond to F A for certain systems. 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.279 And also, I know it can feel like a huge 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:53.200 hassle to log into systems that require multi factor authentication, 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.599 but it really is a more secure method than using 0:04:56.800 --> 0:05:00.640 passwords alone, for example, particularly in a world where data 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.240 breaches and poor security habits can lead to someone gaining 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:09.120 unauthorized access to a computer or network. Next, we have 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:14.360 and C A n s I stands for American National 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.840 Standards Institute. So if you're like me, you probably haven't 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:21.960 traditionally spent a whole lot of time thinking about standards 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:26.440 and where those standards come from. Now, standards are incredibly useful. 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.360 They're what makes it possible for you to use stuff 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:34.720 from totally different sources like manufacturers, for example, or or 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.800 just companies in general, and have those things still work together. 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.320 Imagine a world without standards. It kind of like me 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.479 in college. It would just be a total mess. You 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:51.000 would be locked into ecosystems even more than you already are. 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:56.560 Like if every PC manufacturer went totally proprietary with their hardware, 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.360 their firmware, and their software, you would be lawed into 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.240 that system. You would never be able to use anything 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:07.960 from anywhere else on a hardware related level, like not 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:13.360 even computer hardware, just literal like hardware store hardware. Imagine 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:18.680 that you had proprietary screws from one company and proprietary 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.000 screw drivers from a different company, and they're not at 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:25.200 all compatible, and that you would have to have everything 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.839 from the same manufacturer for it to work together. It 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.520 would be a nightmare and it would make things really 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.200 difficult whenever you need to make repairs or add on 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:40.480 to anything. So standards can apply to stuff like equipment 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:45.200 or even processes and personnel. So standards can be far 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.640 beyond just the physical stuff that we encounter or the 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:53.360 types of of software that we use, and and see 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.680 the organization that verify standards that dates back to nineteen 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.279 It doesn't actually establish standards itself. It's not like this 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:05.480 organization gets together and says we have the stone tablet 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:09.400 that says all uh Phillips head screwdrivers have to be 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.600 this particular shape. It's not like that. Instead, it's an 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:17.240 accreditation organization that evaluates and approves standards that have been 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:21.960 developed by other entities. That process involves a lot of collaboration. 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:25.560 So and C brings together all the various parties that 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.760 are affected by the adoption of those standards so that 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.960 they can hash it out. Ultimately, this leads to a 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:36.600 more orderly marketplace. All that being said, there's still lots 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:40.360 of companies that develop proprietary technologies and processes, but the 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.200 vast majority of the stuff we depend upon has an 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:49.440 underlying uniformity thanks to standards. Next, a p I and 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.160 s d K. This is one of those where I've 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:56.440 combined two different things. So a p I stands for 0:07:56.520 --> 0:08:02.640 Application programming interface, s d A stands for software development kit. 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.320 These two terms are frequently used together, but they are 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:10.000 not interchangeable, and a p I is kind of like 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:14.280 a software liaison, so it's a set of rules and 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:17.960 tools that allow different pieces of software to communicate with 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:22.520 each other. It helps developers create application software that can 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.760 interoperate with some other piece of software or platform. So, 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:30.880 for example, Facebook has an ap I that lets developers 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:36.199 create apps that can tap into basic Facebook functionality. N 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.560 s d K, on the other hand, is a more 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.480 robust set of tools for the purposes of developing software, 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:47.400 and s d K often has an API as part 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.320 of the kit. So you can think of an API 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.200 as a subset of the kind of tools that you 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:57.160 find in an s d K. So an operating system 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.000 might have an s d K, and that would allow 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.200 developers to create software that could then run on top 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:07.240 of that operating system, which, by the way, we often 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.360 abbreviate to O S, so that's another bonus. OS stands 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:17.280 for operating system. Next a R. A R stands for 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:22.360 augmented reality. This applies to technologies that use some form 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:27.040 of computer generated information to enhance our real world experience 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.000 in some way. Frequently, we think of this as a 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:34.240 visual overlay of the world around us. So, for example, 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:40.360 Google Glass which had a transparent prism that was sort 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.560 of look in a way that was not directly in 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:45.680 your view if you were looking straight ahead, but rather 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:48.200 up just a little bit, so you'd glance up a 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:50.240 bit and you could look at this prism that was 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.199 actually a screen that could display digital information. So I 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.199 could give you, for example, step by step directions as 0:09:56.200 --> 0:10:00.160 you navigated around an environment. You would just glance up 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:02.320 and see that, you know, in one feet you would 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.840 need to make a left turn. Other versions of a 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.320 R use a camera to pick up on an image 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:11.000 and then display where you would be able to see 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:14.680 some sort of effect related to that image. So one 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:16.800 example of this is like an app where you would 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:18.960 hold it up your phone, you know, hold up your phone, 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.040 so the camera is looking at say a movie poster, 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:25.600 and then on your screen that movie poster suddenly becomes 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:30.200 animated and it's it's, you know, a pretty interesting effect. 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:33.000 But you could have a R implementations that don't use 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.040 visual elements at all. Just has to be a computer 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:42.040 generated sensory experience that enhances or augments what's going on 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.280 in the world around you. A R is a type 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:49.080 of mixed reality which you can think of as existing 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.439 on a spectrum. So on one end of the spectrum 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:56.160 you have an experience that is heavily dependent upon real reality, 0:10:56.679 --> 0:11:01.640 and the computational elements are extremely light touch. And then 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.679 on the other side of the spectrum you have experiences 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:08.800 that are heavily dependent on a computer generated reality. In fact, 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:12.839 you could have somewhere the computer generated reality is replacing 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:19.760 almost everything of your real experience. Arguably, augmented reality started 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.880 off as an entertainment experience pioneered by a guy named 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:26.360 Morton Heilig back in the late nineteen fifties. He invented 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.200 a machine called the sensor Rama. The idea being that 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:31.800 you would sit down in one of these machines. It's 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.560 kind of like a almost like a console type thing. 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:38.600 You would sit at and you would watch some form 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:42.040 of movie or short film, and that would be augmented 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:47.320 with other sensations, like the device would emit certain smells, 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:51.040 like let's say that you're looking at video or a 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:56.280 film rather of orange groves, and suddenly you can smell oranges, 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:01.720 and you could even get haptic sensation, so so tactile feedback. 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:05.079 There would be little vibrating motors and stuff, and that 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.280 was a kind of the birth of augmented reality. As 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.679 for the term itself, Thomas P. Coddle gets the credit 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.560 for coining that term in nine back when he was 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:20.880 working at Boeing. Next up, we've got our PA slash DARPA. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.599 So our PA A r p A stands for Advanced 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:30.480 Research Projects Agency and DARPA, which is the same organization. 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:34.599 It's just a new name that stands for Defense Advanced 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.839 Research Projects Agency. That's the current name for the organization. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.800 This is the R and D ARM of the United 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:46.040 States Department of Defense. Now this agency isn't actually a 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:50.000 think tank filled with like labs and scientists playing with 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:55.200 beakers and robots and aliens and stuff. Instead, it's an 0:12:55.280 --> 0:13:00.439 organization that's focused primarily on providing funding to other research 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:05.000 organizations that are actually developing technologies that could potentially be 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.760 useful in the cause of national defense. DARPA has played 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:12.760 a huge role in the evolution of technologies like computer networks, 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:19.199 autonomous cars, drone technology, and much more. ARPA net a 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:23.079 predecessor of the Internet, came out of an ARPA initiative. 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:27.640 As the name implies, many of the autonomous car projects 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.760 in various companies can actually trace their history back to 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.600 participants who are competing in one of the DARPA Grand 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:39.199 Challenges of Driver Ellis vehicles. These challenges lay out really 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.920 ambitious goals and then various teams strive to achieve those 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:46.680 while competing against other teams, and they're all going for 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:50.320 a cash prize and really bragging rights for winning the 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.319 whole thing. Now, it's important to remember that the chief 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.840 role of DARPA is ultimately to fund projects that could 0:13:56.880 --> 0:14:00.920 potentially be used in a defense or millet very context, 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:06.679 and the organization has been connected to some rather unsavory 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.480 projects in the past, such as the use of herbicides 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.040 in warfare, most notably agent orange, which is a highly 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:17.079 toxic and carcinogenic compound that was used by the United 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:21.040 States during the Vietnam War. Then we have as key 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.880 or a s c I. I stands for American Standard 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:29.320 Code for Information into Exchange. It's a standard for how 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:34.800 an eight bit system represents numbers, letters, and certain symbols. 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:39.880 So a bit is a binary digit and it can 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.680 have a value of zero or one. So each bit 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.360 has two potential values. Right, a bit can be either 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:48.960 a zero or a one. If you have two bits. 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:54.720 Then you've got four potential values, which would be zero, zero, zero, one, 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.480 one zero, or one one. When you get up to 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:03.400 eight bits, you have two hundred fifty six potential values. 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:08.400 The American Standards Association's X three division created as key 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:14.160 as a standard for representing various characters using binary with 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.360 these eight bits or a bite if you prefer, a 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.640 bite is eight bits. The standard could then be used 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:24.760 in bit based computer systems, which allowed for electronic communication 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.480 of these characters. So we have to remember that computers 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.479 don't process language the same way we do. They typically 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:37.440 process language and form of machine code. Machine code, more 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:41.360 often than not, means binary. That's something that we humans 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:45.880 can't really handle very well. Machines can handle it very 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:50.280 very quickly. So the as key was a way of 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:56.120 translating binary into characters and vice versa. Very important when 0:15:56.160 --> 0:16:03.800 you're using computers to communicate between two different people. Basic, alright, Basic, 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.240 believe it or not, is an acronym. It's not just 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:13.480 a word. Basic stands for beginners all purpose symbolic instruction code. 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.080 It's a type of high level programming language, and the 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.400 developers of Basic intended it to be a relatively easy 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:24.560 to use programming language that computer science students could pick 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.880 up pretty quickly. So what does high level mean in 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.480 this case, Well, machines, like I said, process information in 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:34.680 machine code, and the most famous of this is binary. 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:39.040 Machines can process binary code very very quickly, but it's 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:42.880 incredibly hard for humans to do the same. It's easy 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.120 for me to say the letter H, for example, but 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.480 if I have to look up the as key code 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:52.400 for the letter H, that would be zero one one 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:56.480 zero one zero zero zero. That's if I wanted to 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:58.360 do a lower case H, and upper case H is 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:03.400 a totally different code, so that would very quickly become 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:07.439 impossible for me to use this this binary language to 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.159 make any kind of meaningful set of instructions, like a 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:13.639 program to run on a computer. So to make it 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:17.200 easier for humans to program and work with computers, various 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:21.760 very smart people have created programming languages. Now, some programming 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:25.439 languages we refer to as being low level languages. That 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.960 means they are fairly close to machine code and thus 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.080 they're pretty hard for humans to work with. But other 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:36.240 languages are more of an abstraction and they are high level, 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.600 so they are easy or at least easier for humans 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.679 to work with as they type out instructions to create 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:50.159 a program, so a compiler then takes that language and 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.720 translates it into machine code for the computer to process. 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:57.760 Basic is one of the older modern computer languages and 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:00.640 one that goofs is like yours. Truly it around with 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:03.920 when personal computers first became a thing. You can still 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:08.080 program in Basic, though there are far more sophisticated programming 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:12.719 languages out there. Of course. Next is BIOS, which stands 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.520 for Basic Input output System. So if you look at 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.760 a computer and you get a bit abstract, you realize 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:24.120 there's some proverbial layers going on with your basic computer 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:28.600 or computational device. You've got your actual circuitry, right, You've 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:33.800 got the actual hardware through which information ultimately must be processed. 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:37.880 These are the physical pathways that electricity can flow through. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:42.119 These are the transistors and the wires and processors and 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.000 all that kind of stuff. But you've also got software. 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:48.680 These are the programs that you run to create various outputs. 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.960 Maybe it's a video game, maybe it's a word processor, 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:54.880 maybe it's a web browser. These are chunks of code 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.600 that respond to your input and create an output based 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.280 on that. But there's got to be a layer that 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:05.280 allows for software to interact with hardware, and that's kind 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:08.600 of what BIOS is doing. It's a type of firmware, 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.520 which is a low level software that interacts with a 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:16.439 hardware level. BIOS initiates the boot up process, among other things, 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:20.159 and the BIOS sets the boot priority, which is essentially 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:23.440 a list that dictates the order in which processes may 0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:29.000 initiate upon a machine booting up. All right, so far 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.080 we have covered only the a's and the bees plus 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:34.280 a number with two F A. When we come back, 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:39.639 we'll see what's next. It's um, it's c because that 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.680 was a pun. I'm so sorry. We'll be right back. 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.119 We're gonna start off the seas with CAT C A D. 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.679 It's not just a scoundrel. It actually stands for a 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.720 computer aided design and as the name IMPLOY lies, this 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:05.160 refers to the practice of using computers or computerized workstations 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:09.640 to assist in the design of something. It could be 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:14.440 in the design of electronics or architecture, or mechanical systems 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.639 or animation. I first learned about CAD approaches from my 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.040 friend Michael in high school. He took a course in drafting, 0:20:22.119 --> 0:20:26.920 and that's where he first worked with CAD applications. Me. No, 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:30.560 I never got into that because ain't no computer that's 0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.040 been made that can aid me in the design enough 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:39.440 to make something I make look good or be functional. Today, 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:44.000 CAD is used in tons of industries, from aerospace to 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:48.399 prosthetics to computer animation. Designers may work in a two 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:52.440 D format that's two dimensional, or they might use three 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.159 D models. It all depends on the specific implementation. You 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.480 know what they're using it for, and the program next 0:20:59.560 --> 0:21:02.880 is CAT or C A T. In this case, I'm 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.439 talking about CAT as in category, which we use to 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:11.240 describe certain types of network cables, like ethernet cables. These 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:14.840 are a subset of twisted pair cables. So let's just 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:19.760 walk through that really quickly. If you're familiar with electromagnetism, 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:23.800 you know that a current running through a conductor generates 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.400 a magnetic field, and you know that a fluctuating magnetic 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:32.080 field will induce a current to flow through a nearby conductor. 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:34.959 We can do a lot of cool stuff with that 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.000 because of that basic law of physics, but it also 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:41.600 means we have to take interference into account when we 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:45.800 build out electronics. If you had two unshielded conductors that 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:49.320 were near each other, the current flowing through conductor number 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:53.560 one would interfere with conductor number two. So one thing 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:57.040 you can do to limit this is you can insulate 0:21:57.119 --> 0:22:00.320 the conductors. You can use a non conductive material to 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:03.480 coat those. But another thing you can do is you 0:22:03.480 --> 0:22:07.080 can twist a pair of conductors together that actually reduces 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:11.119 the interference between the two. Alexander Graham Bell discovered this 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:14.639 and used it when building out devices like the early telephone, 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:20.440 and in fact telephone wires use this particular approach. Let's 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:24.280 skip ahead to the nine nineties. After the development of 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:28.920 Level one cables, which are used for telephone wires, and 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:32.800 Level two, which was used in early computer terminal systems, 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:38.280 particularly at places like IBM, twisted pair cables came in 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:41.920 a type called Category three or just Cat three cables, 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:44.840 and then went from there. Cat three cables allowed for 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:48.399 a bandwidth of sixteen mega hurts of frequencies for the 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:52.359 purposes of data transmission. These days, most Ethernet cables are 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:56.680 actually Cat five E cables, which can transmit data at 0:22:56.760 --> 0:23:00.920 up to gigabit speeds. There are other Cat gory cables 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:03.200 out there, some of which have yet to be ratified 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:06.680 by standards organizations. That also means that because they haven't 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:12.200 been ratified, there aren't that many equipment manufacturers that have created, 0:23:12.680 --> 0:23:17.280 you know, actual devices that accept those kinds of cables, 0:23:17.320 --> 0:23:19.879 because it could be a very expensive mistake to build 0:23:19.920 --> 0:23:23.680 out stuff that is accepting a non standardized input. If 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:30.280 standards organizations never ratify specific implementations and declare them as standard, 0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:34.160 you could end up having devices that have useless ports, 0:23:34.280 --> 0:23:39.800 and that's just an expense that you didn't need to have. Next, 0:23:39.840 --> 0:23:43.240 we have C MOSS or c m O S. This 0:23:43.320 --> 0:23:47.760 stands for complementary metal oxide semiconductor, which is a type 0:23:47.760 --> 0:23:51.840 of semiconductor that says nice things about your outfit. Wait no, 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:56.120 I'm sorry, wait being told that's the wrong kind of complementary. 0:23:56.280 --> 0:23:59.320 With regard to computer chips, C MOSS refers to a 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:03.040 chip that's ors information about the hardware settings of the device. 0:24:03.680 --> 0:24:08.720 So BIOS references s MOSS when going through the booting process. 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:12.159 So SA MOSS and BIOS work together to bring a 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:16.959 computational device online and in proper working order upon booting up. 0:24:17.480 --> 0:24:21.280 The memory on S MOSS is dynamic and technically it's 0:24:21.280 --> 0:24:24.840 temporary or volatile in other words, And if S Moss 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:27.600 were to ever go unmpowered, like if the chip were 0:24:27.640 --> 0:24:30.720 to be able to cut off from power, the memory 0:24:30.760 --> 0:24:33.879 on that chip would just wipe out. It would be blank. 0:24:33.920 --> 0:24:36.879 It would be a race essentially. But Bios needs the 0:24:36.960 --> 0:24:41.359 instructions from s Moss to boot properly, right, Bios depends 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:45.280 on s Moss to essentially instruct the Bios what order 0:24:45.359 --> 0:24:48.480 to do stuff in so, the S Moss chip relies 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:51.880 on a small battery to stay powered up even when 0:24:51.920 --> 0:24:54.240 the computer itself has turned off or if you lost 0:24:54.240 --> 0:24:58.000 power or whatever. These batteries can last a really long time. 0:24:58.359 --> 0:25:02.320 Ten years, isn't on you usual, Uh, it's typically at 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:05.320 least as long as the life cycle for the motherboard 0:25:05.480 --> 0:25:08.280 of your computer. Most of the time you would actually 0:25:08.320 --> 0:25:11.160 be ready to replace the whole device before you would 0:25:11.160 --> 0:25:13.840 ever need to replace the C Moss battery, although there 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:16.480 are cases where people have had to do that. Now, 0:25:16.480 --> 0:25:18.840 when you boot up a computer, you actually do have 0:25:18.880 --> 0:25:21.520 a tool that allows you the option to either boot 0:25:21.600 --> 0:25:25.960 into BIOS or S Moss. Booting into sea Moss gives 0:25:25.960 --> 0:25:29.199 you the chance to change sea Moss settings which in 0:25:29.240 --> 0:25:33.320 turn will affect how BIOS handles the booting process in 0:25:33.359 --> 0:25:36.920 the future. Sea Moss, by the way, is a PC term, 0:25:37.000 --> 0:25:41.919 as in personal computer, not politically correct. In Apple Mac computers, 0:25:41.960 --> 0:25:45.600 the equivalent is PRAM or p RAM that stands for 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:49.159 parameter ram. But we're gonna talk about RAM in a 0:25:49.280 --> 0:25:52.440 later episode, all right. I should also add that there 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:55.639 is another s MOSS in tech, and that's the type 0:25:55.680 --> 0:25:59.960 of active pixels sensor found in some digital cameras. See 0:26:00.119 --> 0:26:04.120 MOSS is just one type of these kinds of sensors, 0:26:04.160 --> 0:26:06.520 and to go into how those sensors work would require 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:09.800 a pretty thorough explanation, and it's full episode on its own, 0:26:09.800 --> 0:26:11.560